Cologne to be leading city in Rhine-Ruhr region's Olympics bid

Cologne will be the leading city in the Rhine-Ruhr region's bid to host the Olympics in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia state premier Hendrik Wüst said.

Wüst met with representatives of the municipalities involved in the bid in Dusseldorf.

"We are offering Germany and the world the most compact, sustainable and spectacular Olympic Games. The strongest bid for the Olympic Games comes from us," he said.

Among other things, the athletics stadium is to be built in Cologne – and not, as once seemed possible, in Essen. It's to be built as a temporary facility, parts of which will later be used for other purposes.

The Olympic Village is also to be located in Cologne.

"Around 95% of the athletes will be able to be accommodated in the central Olympic Village," Wüst said.

As planned from the start, other sports venues will be spread across other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. The swimming competitions are to take place in Gelsenkirchen, football in Dortmund and hockey in Mönchengladbach.

North Rhine-Westphalia wants to use the existing stadium infrastructure and, as the most populous German state, score points with many visitors.

"At the moment, we assume that we will be able to offer around 14 million tickets. An absolute record," Wüst said. This also means that more affordable tickets can be offered.

Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region are all vying to host the Olympic Games in Germany.

The German Olympics body DOSB plans to decide in the third quarter of 2026 which city or region will bid and for which Summer Games. The 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympics are under consideration.

Munich residents recently voted in favour of the Olympic bid, while North Rhine-Westphalia is to hold a referendum on April 19 on whether the Rhine-Ruhr region should move forward.